Aligner-bar-engaging bracket for concrete forms



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept. 15, 1925.

O. B. PULlS ALIGNER BAR ENGAGING BRACKET FOR CONCRETE FORMS Filed vJune12. 1922 Sept. l5, 1925. 1,554,029

o. B. PuLls ALIGNER BAR ENGAGING BRACKET FOR CONCRETE FORMS Filed June12, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ,13K @i I? A 0 M 9" 0\ g Inventor:

i O. B. PuZS Bj @fw/@Mdm Afromeys ,Patented Sept. 15, 1925 UNITED STATESPATEN'I" OFFICE.

OSCAR B. '.PU'IJIS, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCO'N SIN, AS'SIGNOR TO METAL FORMSCORPORA TION, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, A CORPORATION. fr

ALIGNER-BAR-ENGAGING BRACKET: CONCRETE FORMS.

Application led June 12, 1922, Serial No. 567,528.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, OSCAR B. Punts, a citizen of the United States,residing at Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State ofWisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Aligner-Bar-Engaging Brackets for Concrete Forms, of which the following is aspecification.

It is now quite common practice in con` crete construction work tofabricate 'forms by assembling a number yof standardized form units andlocking them together in the required relation to each other. Forstraight work these form units may be conveniently made rectangular inshape, and they are ordinarily assembled in superposed horizontal rows.The abutting edges of the assembled form are securely locked together,and when a large panel is formed it is desirable to provide brace oraligner bars at the back of the panel to prevent the panel from bulgingor giving away at places under the heavy pressure of the plasticconcrete.

lVith this consideration in view, the 4object of the present inventionhasbeen to provide a novel form of bracket for securing the brace oraligner bars to the rows of form units. Great flexibility is necessaryin the assembling of these units to meetthe different re'- quirements,and the bracket is detachable so that it can either be applied to theform unit or omitted, as may be necessary or desired.

Among the further objects of the invention is to provide an aligner barengaging bracket of this character which is compara tively simple andinexpensive in its Vconstruction, which can be readily applied to theform unit or detached therefrom, and which will hold the aligner barsecurely in position against the back of the unit.

For the purpose of illustrating the invention, one particular embodimentthereof has been shown on the drawings and will be described in detail,although it will be understood that many modications and changes can bemade in the details of construction without departing 'in any mannerfrom the spirit of the invention. Y v` li .erll iS .t9 be he@ t@ thefollowing description and accompanying drawings, in which, v F lgure l1s an elevation showing an assemblage of four lstandard rectangular formunits together with associated horizontal and vertical aligner bars, theform units being illustrated by dotted lines since they form no part ofthe present invention, and the horizontal aligner bars being shown asattached to the form units by means of brackets which are constructedlin accordance with the invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged elevation of one ofthe brackets, showing thesame as engaging the form aligning bar and as applied to a form unit.

Figure 3 is an edge View of the bracket member, showing the same inoperative position.

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure l, showing a bracket member whichis of double size and is intended to engage the overlapping ends of a`pair of aligner or brace bars.

Figures 5 and 6 are detail views showing a modied form of the inventionin which the fastening members for securing the brackets in position arecarried by the brackets so that they are not liable to be misplaced orlost.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the followingdescription and indicated on all of the views of the drawings by likereference characters.

Referring to the drawings, and more particularly to Figure V1, thereference char-- acters A designate standard rectangular form unitswhich are of a conventional and well known construction and form no partof the present invention. These standard form units are adapted to beassembled in dierent relations to meet diierent requirements, and forforming a wall they are assembled in a panel comprising superposedhorizontal rows of the units. A panel comprising four of the units isshown for illustrative purposes. The specific construction o theunitsthemselves is not material, although it may be explained that 'eachof the units A comprises a sheet metal body plate 1 which is slliroundedby a marginal ange prordd, by angle iron strips 2, M

Each of the units is also provided With a T iron strip 3 extendingtransversely across the back thereof in one direction at substantiallythe center of Vvthe unit. These intermediate stitiiening strips 3provide convenient outstanding flanges for the attachment of the.brackets `or clamps of the present invention. y

In order to prevent bulging of the panel which is formed jby assemblingthe .units A, horizontal aligner or brace bars 4 extend along thehorizontal rows of the units at the back thereof, being in directengagement with the orm 1un`its,-and these horizontalaligner bars 4 arein turn braced at suitable intervals by -vertical" fbars 5. yThesealigner or brace bars lmay be formed .of `any suitable material. 'EitherWooden barsy or any desired standard sections ot structural steel, suchas angle or channel iron, -may be used. `One set of the intersectingaligner `or brace bars, in the presen-t instance the Ihorizontal 'bars4, are attached directly Ato the form units A, -Wlhile the other set ofbars, in

l the present instance-fthe vertical bars 5, vare secured to the4"horizontal 'bars 'a-tytheir `ioints o-intersection. For this l.purposeany suitable rclamps vsuch as @those indicated -at :6 may be used. Theseclamps are in theformioii. U shaped baiils which straddle the verticalbars -5 andengage `the' horizontal gbars 4,Lsaid=bails being provided attheir outer ends with :ecc-entries er camsf? which .can be tightened todraw the aligner bars tightly ltogether at their `points offintersection. A rigid .backing drame is thus provided ttor holding thepanel of assembled nuits A rigidly in position and preventing -any pos-:sibile bulging thereof.

The brackets B forattaching the horizontal aligner-bars 4tothehorizontalfrows of units Af prefer-ably have aasirbstantiall-y Ushaped formation so that .they straddle :the *bars* The free ends `ofithe 4U shaped brackets B. detae'habiyv .engage the .stiieningA.ila-ngesf of the units and a .cam or Wedge means is providedf-torbringing the horizon- -ta'l bars into a ilirm engagement with `:theunits. For this purpose the .ends ott the iU shaped bracket` areIproyided with slots lwhich are adapted \to register with correspondingslots S8 in the stiflening flange ,3 and-to .receive loekingwedges').

In-.the particular term .cai bracket FB which Yhas been illustrated, thearms .orf the bracket are bfurcated so lfthaftwthey a'it over ,andstraddle the :stiftening rib :The brackets may bev conveniently.constructed, iMusltrated, by intenposing 1an, intermediate Aor iiillerpllate it@ betweenatheonter end ypont-ions off al pair bf LU .shapedV.plates 1'1, fthe three thicknesses being fastened together in-anysuitable-mann-er .as :means of therivets-il. "The tree ends Lot V.the`bracket @arms thus have a fbitu-re'ated.-.gtormatonso that they canstraddle the stiffening flange 3 of the form units, as indicated quiteclearly by Figure 3. Vhen the Wedge members 9 are driven in position thebracket B is caused to tightly engage the aligner bar 4 and draw it intoa lir-m engagement with the back of the form `unit A.

i For use in splicing the .ends of a pair of horizontal bars 4, a doublesize bracket may be used, such `as that yindicated at C on Figure l, andillustrated in detail by'Figure 4.` The ,ends of the tWo horizontal barswhich are to be spliced are permitted to overlap and areengaged by tvv-oof these double size brackets C. The brackets C have substantially thesame construction as the brackets B, but are merely made suiicientlylarge te receive two off the Aaligner bars 4. It Wijlfl be -notedlt'hat'the stiffen'ing flange 3 of each ot the form units A is Vprovidedwith three or -moreof the slots v8, and these slots are so positionedthat either `a small bracket B or a large bracket 1C can. be

readily applied to ythe unit. v

A slight modification is illustrated by Figures 5 and 6, in which thebracket `or clamp membersy are shown as provided with the 'fasteningmeans @tor securing .them `to :the form units. The bracket member d) hassubstantially the same construction kas Athe bracket member B, and Aisadapted :to :be ap.- --plied to .the 1aligner bar and form unit in t-hesame'manner. Each side of Athe bracket D is provided With a swinging arm118, which is pivotally -monnted ait l-4'between .a pair of outstandingears 1'5. rThe lswingnigend lof :the Yarin is provided. with .a fingerpiece y16 and also with a. Wedge shaped finger 17 which is adapted to beswung :through the .aligning :slots oit the Abracket member Iandstitilening :flange .of the form unit. The Wedge locking element is thus.carried by the bracket member so I.that'it is always in position foruse, and there is rno .danger ,of the Wedge member A.becomingaccidentally misplaced or lost. if `desir-ed .or necessary `a slot orloose joint may be provided wat the pivotal connection 14 so that thereWill be nothing to -.prev en`t 'a proper functioning of the Wedge memberwhen it his sw-ung yinto opera-tive position. v

It will be obvious that these aligner bar engaging brackets can beemployed intonnection with the panel-s or units which are utilized .vinmaking lcircular,v curved ,or 1`- gular walls, and that the Aalignerbars themselves may .either kbe ,comprised of Weoden :bars or ,any fs'tabletypebfmeta1bar, .Such as vof angle iron .lorffohannel iron'members- Having thus described fnveetiennhat I l,claim as new andvdesire to .eacute .by Letters Ratent is,

1. Thereombfnaton with ,a :unit and an aligner bar, of aU.-.isharebraeketstrad @tiling the Y.e.1,,a1erbera .and estantes bersfor positively attaching the respective arms of the U-shaped bracket tothe unit and at the same time forcibly dravving the bracket toward theunit to clamp the aligner bar in position. Y

2. The combination with a form unit and an aligner bar, of a U-shapedbracket straddling the aligner bar, the unit and both arms of thebracket being formed with portions which overlap and are provided withcorresponding` openings, and keys insertable through the openings tofasten the respectiveA arms of the bracket to the unit.

3. The combination with a form unit provided With a flange, an alignerbar, a bracket engaging the aligner bar and having an overlapping andsliding engagement with the flange, and Wedge means for securing thebracket to the flange and at the same time forcibly sliding it relativethereto to clamp the aligner bar in position.

4. The combination With a form unit, an aligner bar, a bracket engagingthe aligner bar and having an overlapping engagement with a portion ofthe form unit, said overlapping portions being provided Withcorresponding openings, fastening keys insertable through the saidopenings, and swinging members mounted upon one of the members andcarrying the keys.

5. The combination with a form unit constructed with a flange, analigner bar, a U- shaped bracket straddlingthe aligner' bar and havingthe arms thereof in an overlapping and sliding engagement With theflange of the unit, the flange and arms of the bracket being formed withcorresponding openings, and pivotally mounted keys carried by thebrackets and insertable through the openings to secure the brackets inposition.

6. The combination with a form unit having an outstanding flange, of analigner bar engaging bracket having a bifurcated portion fitting overthe flange, and means for detachably securing the said bifurcatedportion of the bracket to the flange.

7. The combination with a form unit having an outstanding flange, of analigner bar engaging bracket having a bifurcated portion adapted to litover the flange, the bifurcated portion of the flange being formed Withcorresponding openings, and locking means insertable through thecorresponding openings to detachably secure the bracket to the formunit.

8. The combination With a form unit having an outstanding flange, a Ushaped bracket adapted to straddle an aligner bar and having bifurcatedends adapted to lit over the flange of the form unit, and means fordetachably securing the bifurcated ends of the bracket to the flange ofthe form unit.

9. The combination with a form unit having an outstanding flange, of a Ushaped bracket adapted to straddle an aligner barl and having bifurcatedends adapted to fit over the flange, the flange and arms of thebifurcations being correspondingly slotted, and Wedge members insertablethrough the slots for detachably securing the bracket to the form unit.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

OSCAR B. PULIS.

